Timeline: mainland bombings

August 3 2001A
car bomb explodes in Ealing Broadway, west London, just after midnight, injuring seven people. Alan Fry, Metropolitan police deputy assistant commissioner, said: "I am satisfied it is an evil deed committed by a dissident republican group and it has similarities to other attacks we have suffered in the capital and in Northern Ireland perpetrated by the Real IRA."

May 6 2001Another device explodes at Hendon, on the same spot on the pavement as the bomb on April 14. The explosion coincides with the anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising. The Real IRA are suspected again. One passerby was hurt.

April 14 2001 An explosion at a postal depot in Hendon, north London, is believed to have been the work of the Real IRA and linked to the 20th anniversary of the death of IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands. No one is injured.

March 4 2001 A bomb explodes outside BBC television centre in west London. One person is hurt. It is blamed on the Real IRA. There is speculation that it is retaliation for last year's Panorama programme which named four men allegedly responsible for the Omagh bombing.

September 20 2000 An anti-tank rocket is fired at MI6 headquarters in London, causing damage but no injuries. The Real IRA is thought to be responsible.

July 19 2000A bomb threat sparks a massive security alert on the tube line near Ealing Broadway underground station in west London. Following a warning, bomb disposal experts perform a controlled explosion on the device four hours after sealing off the area.

June 1 2000 An early morning explosion damages Hammersmith bridge in London but no one is injured. Dissident republicans are suspected.

April 5 1997 The Grand National horse race at Aintree is postponed after the IRA issues a number of bomb threats.

June 15 1996 An IRA bomb in Manchester destroys a large part of the city centre and injures 200 people.

February 9 1996 The IRA ends its ceasefire by planting a bomb at South Quay in Docklands, east London. Two men are killed in the explosion and many more are injured.